The Ultimate Puppy Pile of Haunted Superheroes
by gallifrey-companion
Summary: Nightmares are hard to deal with, and the Avengers know that better than anybody. Slowly, they come together to comfort each other in the long darkness. They are the only things keeping each other sane.


Since the Battle of New York, the newly dubbed Avenger's had gone through horrible bursts of nightmares. Sure, the group had had nightmares before, given their pasts.

Tony always had nightmares of his father, his time in captivity and child kidnappings. Natasha had them of her time as a spy and assassin. She had witnessed and committed horrors that no one forgot over night. Bruce often fell into the horrors of his acts of the Hulk. Steve, the soldier, saw the horrors of war played through his mind like the tapes he loved so much. Clint watched the abuse of himself and his brother. Thor had to witness his brother's betrayal over and over again.

But the Battle, it changed them. Tony, he _died _trying to stop the nuke that the Council had sent. Sure, they could go around their day like normal, but night; oh night was different.

The darkness was overwhelming, heavy and suffocating. It trapped them and kept them tied down in its large arms.

After a few nights of nightmares, each member locked away in their own rooms, things began to change in the Tower.

It began one night, just like the others. It was late, thunder and rain running down the air. Tony was laid out in his large bed, fists clenched in the sheets and head buried in pillows. He wore only low riding pajama pants, despite it being October. He had just woken up with a hoarse throat, courtesy of the lovely dreams he had. The arc reactor was the only light in the dark room. There was no sound besides the war going on in the sky above him.

That is, until he heard the door creak open. Groggily, he raised his head and looked at patch of light coming into the room. He saw the dark outline of a figure walking slowly towards him. Once he- he knew it was man- got closer, he knew.

Bruce.

The gamma radiation scientist turned Hulk shuffled closer, flannel pants swishing around his bare feet. Like Tony, he was bare chest, as all the males in the Tower dressed for sleep. He yawned and knelt next to the bed so that his head was leveled with Tony's.

They didn't say anything, just looked at each other. After a moment, Bruce raised his hand and began to run it through the top of Tony's hair. This was not usual, they often touched each other like this in the lab, but this was different.

Eventually, Tony got sick of Bruce kneeling on the floor on pulled him onto the bed next to him. He had heard the man's nightmares too, having woken up on the tail end of them.

At first, Bruce was hesitant, but after Tony huffed and flopped back down, he began to relax. He lay towards the end of the bed, curled into a ball.

If by morning, Tony's legs were tossed over his back, neither mentioned it.

The next to join Tony's enormous bed was Steve.

Bruce had been coming into Tony's room for a few weeks now. It would usually be the same way as the first time, during the night, but Steve must have noticed and decided to join.

This night was different from the first. Snow poured from the sky, as if it was trying to bury its occupants in its angel winged whiteness forever. Drivers tomorrow would certainly have a hell of a time getting to work. The Tower was warm, as none liked the cold, but even looking out the window would give you a cold feeling.

Now, the bed had more blankets placed on it, not just cool sheets. Thick comforters lay scattered around the bed with quilts and throws. Nonetheless, they were not used much. Tony still lay out like a starfish, but his legs now were usually on top or held by Bruce. The brown haired man still curled in on himself, but the Hulk helped by providing body heat.

Unlike Bruce, Steve had somehow slipped into the room almost silently. The door had been propped open and the super soldier approached the bed. He observed the pair and their odd placing with a small smile.

…_Falling, Bucky falling…_

…_The cold of the ice…_

… "_I had a date."… _

The smile quickly fell as the images that haunted his dreams flashed passed his eyes. It was always the same dreams, the same nightmares that woke him.

Steve gently maneuvered himself onto the bed and lay down on his back next to Tony. His sock covered feet just barely touched the soft locks of Bruce as the man breathed. Just as he was starting to relax, Tony rolled over slightly so his head was buried between the mattress and Steve's side. His arm ended up thrown across Steve's chest, which was covered with a long sleeve shirt.

Tony snored loudly once, shuffled, and fell back into the depths of sleep. Below them both, Bruce muttered something about beakers and readings and Steve smiled again.

There was no war that night.

Thor joining them had been purely by accident.

It was almost Christmas now, and Steve and Bruce had all joined the billionaire in sleep. They would come in after changing and settle down in their positions. There was little talk, even from snarky Tony, but it suited them all fine.

Thor had just returned from Asgard, after a particularly fierce argument with Odin about Loki. He was tired and upset and couldn't remember which room was his again, so in his thought filled haze, choose an empty one.

When Tony entered the room fifteen minutes later, Steve dragging him from the lab for sleep, he saw Thor. The large blond was on his back, feet near the head board and arms stretched over his head.

With a shrug, Tony climbed around the man to lie in the center of the bed. He left enough room for where he knew Steve would come in and a space where Bruce could nestle at his and Steve's feet.

He had been up for nearly twenty eight hours so it did not take long for him to succumb to sleep. Within minutes, his eyes closed, breathing even. His arms were at his sides, where he knew they would attach themselves to Steve's middle in the night.

Bruce came in next, as always. He too was surprised to see Thor, who had not returned in a few weeks, spread out next to Tony, but moved to lie near his head. It did not bother him that Thor had joined their arrangement, just as it hadn't bothering him when Steve did.

He gently lifted Tony's legs to cover his back; he liked the weight. He too was soon asleep, dreaming about numbers and formulas.

Steve entered soon after as well. The pattern repeated.

Ten minutes later, Steve lay on his back, one arm around Tony's shoulders and a leg thrown over Thor's chest. He was held in a vice grip by Tony's arm.

The final two, or so they thought, to join their puppy pile like bed was Clint and Natasha. Like Thor, their joining had not been exactly intentional.

The pair were spies; they knew about the other's habit of sleeping together to help the nightmares after the first night Bruce joined Tony. One particularly cold night had the pair entering to room to cover them up with blankets. The last thing they needed was a sick pile of superheroes.

As they were rather awkwardly covering the men, Steve's arm shot out to grab Natasha by the arm when he felt her touch him. When she tried to remove the appendage, the grip only became tighter.

Natasha could have easily broken loose with no harm done. But she didn't. Instead, she looked down at the peaceful faces before her.

With a sigh, she climbed into bed next to them. When he saw what she was doing, Clint joined her slowly.

It took them awhile to relax, many nights in fact. Eventually, Natasha would lay with her back to Tony's. She was within touching distance of Steve, which seemed to placate the man. Clint would curl up next to her, their head s and feet touching. Clint would place his arms over her body to touch either Steve or Tony.

They were always the last to join the bed, after making sure the others were all well and safe.

The final member was a true surprise to all, even himself.

It was spring now, the air warmer but the nights were still chilly.

Loki had walked into Tony's bedroom to ask for a blanket as Jarvis was temporarily down for updates, when he saw the pile of limbs on the bed.

It had been discovered by Frigga, ever the faithful mother, who noticed the strange presence residing inside of Loki when she was examining him. She could not believe that Loki could do those things of his own accord so she began to do tests on him. Lucky for them, as Loki was being controlled by Thanatos.

Odin had managed to get him out of his son and Loki was left with the aftermath of his, Thanatos's, actions. As soon as he was healthy enough, he had traveled to Midgard to apologize.

It took a while, months, but the team had slowly began to trust the remorseful trickster. He had even proved his worth in a mission, and was an unofficial member of the team. Fury wouldn't make it official, but the rest of the team considered him part.

Loki now stood in the doorway, observing the team now. Just from the image in front of him, he could read so much about them.

The amount of trust that was displayed was amazing. Even the ever watchful assassins seemed to be at ease here. He noticed how Steve, ever the protective captain, had to have a way to easily touch everyone. Weather it was with a leg, a hand, or with them laying partly on him, it worked. Even his brother was snoring happily.

They had never mentioned this, never gave any indentation. Sure, he noticed that they all spent very little time in their rooms, but he assumed that is was the nightmares that kept them awake, pattering away somewhere.

Then he realized that the nightmares were the reason they were there at all. All of them had haunted pasts, it was no surprise that they came together like they did.

Lost souls looking for solace, Loki thought.

On instinct, Loki moved forward but then caught himself. Oh, how he wanted to join them. To be part of that level of trust… he felt it hum through his body like hell fire and burn his veins like liquid nitrogen.

After spending a while at war with himself, he finally walked slowly towards the bed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Steve, who must have woken up, watching him. When he saw where Loki was headed, he smiled slightly, nodded at the man and closed his blue eyes again; glad the final member of his team was with them at last.

Loki lay on his side at the foot of the bed, near the feet of Tony and Steve, with Thor's hair tickling his chin. His bare feet touched Bruce's socked ones.

He reviled in the feeling of being accepted in this sacred and intimate affair. His magic hummed under his skin, purring and moving in smooth waves that were calming and relaxing.

His last thought before he fell into Morpheus's arms was a soft and gentle _finally. _

Like every other time someone joined the puppy pile, no one said anything, just welcomed him with soft smiles or a touch of the shoulder. Steve made sure his foot could always reach Loki for the nights where the fear of losing everybody would strike him, to reassure him. Natasha and Clint added Loki onto the list of people to make sure was alright before they themselves fell asleep. Bruce's hand or foot would be there to help him through the guilt attacks that raided his mind in the darkness. The familiar sound of Thor snoring and the smell of his hair that had not changed since they were boys were comforting.

All was well.


End file.
